The letter issued by the Deputy Minister of Works of 13 November 2006 says that the money must be spent within two months. And it is ‘belanja tambahan’, an increase in budget under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (RMK9).

The RMK9 has been approved by Parliament while this belanja tambahan has NOT . It has only been approved by the Prime Minister, not even by the Cabinet.

I was told that in Johor the money was already distributed since early December. Hmm....isn’t Johor that same state that is suffering the worst flood in 100 years? I hope someone isn’t going to start making statements that this is God’s revenge for stealing our money. This would be most unkind because those who are suffering are innocent victims who are probably not even aware of the RM600 million.

It is clear that the money will be managed by the Umno Division Chiefs. The projects have already been identified. All the Class F contractors (who are not only Malays but Umno members as well) have to do is go see their Division Chiefs to get the money.

The buck stops at the Umno Division Chiefs.

And the projects have already been earmarked -- which means this is all a fait acompli.

Abdullah Badawi had already discussed this matter with the relevant people even before the pre-council meeting. They had also already issued the letter earlier that day, before the meeting, and at that time this RM600 million expenditure was not approved by either Parliament or the Cabinet. It was the decision of one man, the Prime Minister -- another fait acompli.